As artificial intelligence technology continues to advance, phishing scams are becoming increasingly covert and sophisticated. These scams typically disguise themselves as trustworthy sources through emails or social media messages, attempting to extract sensitive data from unsuspecting victims. Today, scammers utilize AI bots and personalized information, making these schemes harder to detect, resulting in an unprecedented rise in cybercrime.
Scammers leverage artificial intelligence technology to continuously scrape company or personal information from social media. These programs can gather a wealth of data regarding an individual's social media habits, interests, and associations. With these specific details, cybercriminals can easily craft effective large-scale phishing schemes that mimic the tone and style of real individuals. Notably, there has been a significant increase in phishing scams targeting corporate executives. "This situation is becoming increasingly severe and very personalized; we suspect that AI is the driving force behind it," said Kirsty Kelly, Chief Information Security Officer of the UK insurance company Beazley, in an interview with the Financial Times. "We are starting to see some well-planned attacks that can scrape a large amount of information about an individual."
While cybercriminals are adept at using phishing strategies to steal information, businesses can also utilize artificial intelligence to combat these cyber threats. Developers are working hard to create equally intelligent AI bots to help detect AI-generated content and code, intercepting them before attacks occur. According to a survey by PYMNTS, more than half of companies are already using some form of AI to combat cybercrime, with many respondents expecting AI to be fully implemented in the fight against cybercrime within the next seven years.
In addition to technological measures, employee training is also crucial. Teaching employees at all levels how to recognize phishing emails and stay updated on the latest scam techniques can help companies avoid hefty payouts and embarrassing announcements of cyber attacks, such as the one faced by Stop & Shop in November 2024.
